I have wondered why in the majority of USA States, the State capitol is not the largest city. Examining the maps of the States may help explain this. In nearly all instances, the State capitol is reasonably central, close to the middle of the State. Similarly, when you look at US Counties, the County seat seems invariably to be centrally located within the County in question. I guess this centrality allows governance to be geographically applied in a more equitable and even handed fashion, with less likelihood of places within a State or County being ignored. All this is supposition and I've done no research to back up my hunches.
I then thought of Catholic dioceses in my home State of Victoria. When I grew up, Bendigo was the head office of the Diocese of Sandhurst, and it extended as far as Wodonga, almost 300 kms away. However, back then, a place like Inglewood, only 40 odd kms away from Bendigo, was in a different diocese, and was part of the Ballarat diocese. As it happened, over the years, Inglewood had a succession of child molesting priests. It was relatively 'far flung' from Ballarat, seemingly away from their attention. I wonder if there was a greater preponderance of child abuse that took place in parishes like Inglewood, relatively far removed from their centre of clerical governance. I think it will be worthwhile for the upcoming Royal Commission to investigate this.
